5 tricks that shops use to make you overspend

Take a few seconds and think about how many times you went to the supermarket to buy one item and left with a lot more in your bags.  Let’s be honest, we all do that all the time. And, even though shopping is fun and relaxing and, on some level fulfilling, our wallets weren’t that happy that we spent more than we had planned to. 

Some say it’s a matter of self-control to stop yourself from overspending. And, there are indeed many strategies that can help you be smarter about the way you spend your money when you go shopping. However, overspending isn’t entirely your poor’s money management skills fault. Shops and supermarkets also use a number of tricks to make you buy more than you were planning to. Here are 5 tricks that sellers use to make us overspend: 

Family Doing Grocery Shopping
Source: Pexels

1. Shopping carts are placed at the entrance 

Even if you may have not noticed it, shops are subliminally sending you the message that you must buy as much as possible right from the beginning. No matter the size of the shop, big or small, there are always shopping carts or baskets waiting for you at the entrance. And, we should all admit that we fall for this trick all the time. 

You go to the supermarket to buy one item. You see the shopping cart and decide to get one with you inside in case you discover that you need to buy something more. And, that’s exactly how you have fallen for this trick. You admit to yourself right from the beginning that there is even the slightest possibility that you will purchase more than just what you came for.  

2. The psychology of colors 

There is no way you went shopping without noticing the huge red signs saying “sales” or “discount”. And, most probably, you also let yourself fooled by them and entered a store exactly because you have seen them in the window. Once again, don’t worry, you are not easy to fool, but rather the psychology of colors is very effective. 

Simply put, according to the psychology of colors, certain colors elicit certain emotional or psychological responses in people. And, the color red is used by marketers, shops, and retailers to trigger urgency and make the potential buyers alert. When you see the word “sale” or “discount” on a red sign, your brain is fooled into thinking that if you don’t purchase right now, you will miss the chance.  

Moreover, apart from tricking us into impulse buying, the discounts are also very often only a little lie. Impulse buying often makes us purchase items even without actually calculating how much the discount is. A great way to not let yourself be fooled by this one is to use a percentage discount calculator to see the final price of an item after applying the percentage discount. 

According to a study conducted by the secretariat of the Seoul International Color Expo, 92.6% of respondents claimed that the most important decisional factor for making a purchase is the visuals of the product. Moreover, 84.7% claimed that color accounts for more than half compared with the other factors important for making a purchase. So, it comes as no surprise that retailers use the color of psychology in their favor. 

Apart from the big red signs, retailers use colors to trick our brains in a multitude of ways. For example, in order to make a product look organic and made with natural ingredients, the packaging will always be green as this color is associated with nature. 

3. Essential items are placed in the back of the store 

We all need to purchase essential items when we go shopping. In fact, sometimes we go shopping specifically for those items. However, you get to the supermarket and realize that you need to pass through the entire place before you reach them. 

This is another trick used by shops to fool us purchase more. If you go to the supermarket to buy body care products, you will most likely pass the food and the drinks area on your way. Because seeing means buying in the language of consumer behavior. So, shops want to make you see as much as possible from their products. 

4. Shops are a pleasant environment 

No, shops don’t play music and spray beautifully-smelling scents because that’s their way to welcome you. They actually trick your brain to spend more time in their location. 

Whenever you go to the supermarket or the mall, you can notice that there is always background music playing and there is a very welcoming atmosphere all around. Not to mention the Christmas decorations they hang and the jingles they play at that time of the year. 

All these efforts they make are specifically designed to make you unconsciously want to spend more time there. And, the more time spent in the supermarket or the shopping mall will always result in more items bought by you. 

5. Online shops are using these tricks too 

Perhaps even more tricks than brick-and-mortar shops use. Although the channels they reach out to customers are different than traditional stores, their purpose is exactly the same. To make you buy as many products as possible. 

You think online retailers offer you free shipping as an act of goodwill? No, they do it exactly because they know that nobody wants to pay for shipping when you can spend more on purchasing items for you. And, this philosophy couldn’t work any better for them. 

Product suggestions are another tactic used by online retailers to make you overspend. Let’s take an online clothing store as an example. So, you decide to buy a beautiful skirt that you find online. it takes only a few seconds until the online retailer recommends you a beautiful blouse that matches perfectly with the skirt you have just added in your shopping cart. And, most of the time, we fall for this and purchase the blouse too. 

Knowing all these tricks can empower you next time you go shopping to not get fooled by the sellers. You can now avoid making impulse purchases and manage your spending more smartly. 

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to Top